Roman Curia: Term Limits to Five Years?

Five Year Term Limits for the Curia

(Rome) In these days there is talk in the Roman Curia much about possible reform, which "could have a really radical effect", says the Vatican expert Marco Tosatti in the daily newspaper La Stampa.

The reform envisages the idea to limit the period of service of Officials of the Roman Curia to five years. An extension of a maximum ten years could be granted in exceptional cases.

Officials are called priests, whether in congregations or councils, do the bulk of the work in the Roman Curia in the various dicasteries. In the secular sphere you would speak of the officials in the administration.

A priest from Munich, Paris, La Paz or New York, who will be appointed to the Roman Curia to Rome, would in future return to his home diocese after five years. The regulation should apply to all institutions of the Holy See, excluding the Diplomatic Service. The diplomats will continue to follow the traditional career model.

Weakening of the Curia - the diplomats win?

Service in the Diplomatic Academy, the oldest in the world, begins with the cursus honorum of candidates, the way, which at the end, will be Apostolic Nuncio and titular archbishop after about 16 or 17 years of service.

The idea, according to the critics, would weaken the central institutions for the management of the universal Church. The church would be robbed  of the expertise, skills and experience of officials. No secular authority would engage in such self-enfeebling. Politicians come and go, but the civil service is quietly the backbone of any state administration.

The idea is justified by the intention of limiting "careerism";  with limiting pastoral duties of priests who should not  be held too long by administrative work; with the ability to integrate more priests from various dioceses in the management of the universal Church. This does not convince outside of Santa Marta. Outside  there is the idea, should it be really final, that this is regarded as a further blow by Pope Francis against the Roman Curia.

Some speak of an "old" anti-Roman reflex, which comes into fruition with this idea. A reflex, which under Pope Francis  leaves only the diplomatic corps, which is already the big winner of the change in Popes  from 2013, as the big winner. Should the reform idea to be implemented, the diplomat would automatically  form the actual backbone of the world Church in Rome within a short time.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Google (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

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